Welcome to the October 2023 issue of Prenatal - 5: Grow & Thrive - HCA’s monthly newsletter about our behavioral health work in the early years of life. 

We welcome you to keep reading to find out more of what’s happening in the P-5 behavioral health world, including new HCA employees, community review of the Apple Health DC:0-5 Crosswalk, DC:0-5 trainings and supports, and a special spotlight on developmental screening at well-child checkups. If you’ve missed earlier editions of this newsletter, you can find them on our IECMH webpage, under IECMH updates. 

Note: Prenatal – 5: Grow & Thrive is a spin-off newsletter of HCA’s Prenatal – 25: Thrive newsletter, which focuses on behavioral health for the entire age span of pregnancy to early adulthood. If you missed it, check out the most recent edition of the P-25 Thrive newsletter, released in July. 

Welcome two new members of HCA’s prenatal – age five behavioral health team!  

In October, HCA welcomed two staff members into the broader prenatal – age five behavioral health team.  

Teresa Eltrich joined the HCA’s Clinical Quality & Care Transformation division as the Perinatal Mental Health Program Manager. In partnership with DBHR and other divisions, Teresa focuses on initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people. Teresa brings a wealth of perinatal mental health clinical experience into HCA’s Medicaid policy work and partnerships.  

Christine Mickelson moved into a new position of supervisor in the Prenatal – Age 25 section of HCA’s Division of Behavioral Health & Recovery (DBHR). As part of this position, Christine will be supervising several  DBHR employees whose work focuses on prenatal – age five behavioral health. Christine has worked within DBHR for the past three years as the WISe Communications Manager. Prior to DBHR, she worked in managed care, a regional Behavioral Health Organization, and at a behavioral health agency with a focus on children, youth, and families. 

Welcome Teresa and Christine!  

Apple Health DC:0-5 Crosswalk – community review process 

The annual community review process for the Apple Health DC:0-5 Crosswalk will close on November 5, 2023. Feedback received through this review process will inform updates for the 2024 Apple Health DC:0-5™ Crosswalk, which is slated for publication on January 1, 2024.To learn more about proposed crosswalk updates, areas for additional feedback, and the process to submit feedback, please review the Community Review Kick-off slides. 

HCA’s Prenatal - 25 Behavioral Health team has established a series of legislative implementation webinars that outline bill language, timelines, and the current progress to date. Several projects focused on prenatal – five behavioral health will be highlighted in the upcoming webinars: 

December 12, 2023. 3-4pm | The December webinar will feature updates about HB 1168 (Prenatal Substance Exposure).  

Still haven’t attended a DC:0-5 training or have new staff that need DC:0-5 training? Attended a DC:0-5 training and want to learn more? The following professional development opportunities are provided at no-cost by the IECMH-WC, and they are open to providers who serve children and families enrolled in Apple Health.  

DC:0-5 Clinical Training Communities of Practice: November 13 – April 8 (second Mondays), 12:30 to 2 p.m. (virtual) | CoPs are a space for mental health professionals who attended DC:0-5 Clinical Training to foster relationships with other providers, build upon collective knowledge, and help translate knowledge learned in the training into practice. 

Developmental screening at well-child checkups 

Developmental screenings support tracking how children are building skills with language, movement, emotions, learning, and interacting with others. Health care providers and early childhood professionals use developmental screenings to determine whether a child is meeting important developmental milestones and help detect concerns early. They offer an opportunity to intervene early when services are most effective and less costly.  

One place where young children may receive developmental screenings is at well-child checkups (WCC), which are comprehensive, preventive health care visits to stay up to date on physical, emotional, and social development. WCC are covered under Apple Health (Medicaid) as a part of Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) services, and includes fourteen checkups between birth through age five.  

The Bright Futures Toolkit for Commonly Used Screening Instruments includes examples of available standardized tools that can be used during WCC. Most developmental screening tools include questions to understand young children’s development across multiple domains, such as physical, cognitive, adaptive, communication, and social-emotional development. Providers can log screening results for easy parent/caregiver access using the newly launched Strong Start, a new statewide developmental screening system (For more information, see DOH’s announcement about the launch of Strong Start.) 

When developmental screening indicates a potential concern, health care providers refer children and their families to additional services, such as Early Supports for Infants & Toddlers (ESIT) for children birth to three.   

To learn more about EPSDT and access resources for providers and families, visit the HCA’s EPSDT provider webpage and Well-child Checkup webpage.